The Christmas star also called Poinsettia it is a plant perennial of tropical origin cultivated at a temperature above 15 °. Its characteristic leaves bright red made it the perfect plant to symbolize the Christmas holidays.

If you want to buy a Poinsettia in view of the Christmas period, know that you are buying a plant that it can remain beautiful and lush not only during the Christmas period but throughout the year.

They are composed of thin semi woody stems, bright green in color, very branched while the leaves are dark and at the apex of the stems large inflorescences develop in winter, which we are used to considering single flowers. In reality, the true flowers of the poinsettia are similar to those of all euphorbias: they are called cyathia and have small dimensions, are practically devoid of petals and are green or yellow.

What we consider the large petals of the poinsettia are the bracts, which underlie the inflorescences; this means that they are not petals, but transformed leaves. The botanical species has bright red bracts, smooth and wide; over the decades, however, the success of this plant in cultivation has given way to hybridizations; so today we can have Poinsettias with pink, fuchsia, yellow, white, streaked, variegated, double, curled, rolled bracts. However, it is always the same plant and the same species, and therefore all poinsettias must be grown in the same way.

CARE

In the winter period

At home, place it in a spot where there is plenty of light but not direct, which is away from south-facing windows and heat sources. Beware of blows of air that would make her suffer. Only water the soil twice a week, preventing them from forming stagnation in the saucer.

It is normal that, starting from the bottom, the green leaves, that is, the older ones turn yellow and fall off as the days go by. Don't worry, the plant isn't suffering! Continue to wet it until the end of March, when only the colored parts will remain.

From March to summer

Between March and April the green leaves will have fallen, now is the time to to cut all bare branches of the plant at a height of about 12-15 cm from the ground.

When the good weather arrives, decanted the Christmas star in a possibly terracotta pot, adding a few handfuls of universal soil you can fix it outdoors in partial shade.

You will soon see new green leaves sprouting from buds and on bare branches - soon your plant will have beautiful foliage.

Water it regularly based on the climate as the earth dries up and at least a couple of times a month fertilize the soil.

From October to the following Christmas

When the first cold makes itself felt bring back the poinsettia indoors, with sunshine 8 hours of light a day will be dyed in a hurry to red or its color. Add more to the water of fertilizer for indoor flowering plants. Your poinsettia is now ready to be gorgeous again for the Christmas holidays!

CURIOSITY

Its botanical name is Euphorbia pulcherrima but it is also called Poinsettia because at the time of its first botanical cataloging it was not thought to be a euphorbia, and therefore it was given the name of the first American governor of Mexico. Only later thanks to various studies it was understood that this plant belongs to the great euphorbiacee family. In nature this plant is native to Mexico.

In our eyes there are only small poinsettia plants but in nature they develop as large and fascinating shrubs, sometimes like small small trees, reaching even three meters in height.